60% of rural India lives on less than Rs 35 per day

According to the 66th round of National Sample Survey carried out between July 2009 and June 2010, all India average monthly per capita consumer expenditure in rural areas was Rs 1,054 and urban areas Rs 1,984.

The survey also pointed out that 10 per cent of the population at the lowest rung in rural areas lives on Rs 15 a day, while in urban areas the figure is only a shade better at Rs 20 day.

"The poorest 10 per cent of India's rural population had an average MPCE of Rs 453. The poorest 10 per cent of the urban population had an average MPCE of Rs 599", it said.

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Image: Woman carrying a child walks ahead of her husband on a railway track in front of residential buildings under construction on the outskirts of Kolkata.Photographs: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters